Consuming Darkness
by HKcookie
Summary: 'Darkness. It consumes you so slowly, you won't even notice, until it's too late, of course. One day, you shoot magic at a stranger whilst shopping in a quaint, little village in Camelot, causing for you to slightly smile, allowing that part of your soul to crack and let some of the darkness in.' Three-Shot *Contains Spoilers for 5x04, Speculation for 5x08, 5x10 and 5x11.*
1. Consuming Darkness

**AN- Hey guys! This is my first time posting to the Ouat section so I would appreciate if you could give me a review! Part Two will come out on either Wednesday or Thursday, btw. Also, if you don't like spoilers, don't read. Thanks! -M**

* * *

 **Consuming Darkness**

Darkness. It consumes you so slowly, you won't even notice, until it's too late, of course.

Days and days go past, the darkness swirling around your soul, waiting for it to crack so it can seep into your soul.

One day, you shoot magic at a stranger whilst shopping in a quaint, little village in Camelot, causing for you to slightly smile, allowing that part of your soul to crack and let some of the darkness in. You then started to embrace the darkness a little bit.

Embracing the darkness was subtle. You first liked the power it gives you, the strength you feel as you unleash the power. You were scared, of course, having unlimited power can be overwhelming, but with enough time and practice, you gradually started to become better and better at controlling the overwhelming power.

You tried and tried to keep the darkness at bay by controlling it, but soon enough, you failed with one simple task: **Don't crush a stranger's heart.**

The waves of ecstasy crashed down into your body as you squeezed and crushed a red, pounding heart; their loved ones watching in shock as she collapsed on the dirt ground. Her heart crumbled into grey dust and onto the ground, next to the female victim. _You liked it, didn't you?_

You then poofed away, smiling gleefully as you greeted and kissed your own true love. _If he is your true love, why didn't that kiss work?_

* * *

" Hey Killian?" The blonde stared into his crystal, blue eyes as she spoke. " I know why Excalibur is without a tip and I know what the missing piece is."

His eyes grew wide as Emma spoke, cocking his head to the left and demanded with a soft voice, " Then tell me."

" The missing piece of Excalibur is the dark one's dagger. Once they are connected, I can rid myself of this darkness and everyone can finally be safe." Once Emma had finished speaking, Killian took his arms off of her and lead her to a piece of parchment paper that looked old and crunched up from the creases and the browning over the edges.

" Why do you have this in your drawer?" Killian asked harshly, Emma's green eyes growing wide in shock as she backed away slightly.

" I—I can explain." She stuttered out, sitting onto the creamy, soft bedsheets while crossing her hands over her stomach.

He walked towards her, sitting beside Emma's scared form and spoke, " Then explain. I will listen." Killian's left arm circled around her waist as his right hand pulled Emma's tired face to him and stroked her cheek, staring into her green eyes with love and cherish for her.

" I had that because the darkness is so hard to keep at bay and I wanted a fresh start where I could embrace the darkness without that manifestation of Rumple taunting me every day." Emma started to cry, her tears running down her face as she spoke some more. " I—I don't want everyone to pity me anymore. I just wanted a fresh start; a clean slate." Her cries turned into sobs as she buried herself in Killian's new coat, his arms circling around her waist and hugging her.

He held her as she sobbed and sobbed, her tears soaking his new, freshly-washed leather coat. He didn't mind.

Once Emma's sobs died down, they stayed in that position for a few minutes, both of them wishing they could stay in this moment forever and not face the impending doom that's about to come.

" Emma?" Killian spoke in a hushed tone as Emma's face emerged from his chest, her arms still clinging him like a soft teddy bear.

" What?" She asked, her tear-stricken face staring into Killian's eccentric, blue eyes.

" You can cast it. I don't mind." He spoke with a sad smile.

Emma's face lit up as Killian finished speaking. Her mind went to a million thoughts as she smiled at him.

Her lips suddenly crashed into Killian's, their mouths kissing each other like no other times before. It was sweet, yet rough at the same time, both pouring their hearts out as they made-out.

Eventually they stopped, looking into each other's eyes and snuggling into one another, both wanting to stay like that forever.

 _But, they couldn't._

* * *

The waves crashed along the wooden docks as the navy, blue sky descended over Storybrooke. The stars shined across the turquoise water, making the lapping waves reflect the stars above.

A tired Killian walked along the docks, stopping at the location the piece of paper had said to stop at.

He looked over at the waves crashing and the stars reflecting on them. If he had more time, he would've spotted some constellations he found during his time in Neverland.

As Killian stared into the ocean, he felt a presence linger behind him. When he turned around, he saw Emma. She wore a black, leather jacket that had a flared collar up to her neck, black leggings and black ankle-boots that made her more taller than usual. Her _now_ white hair was in a sleek, low bun, making her look more mature and more villainous.

" Do you have it?" Emma asked coyly, her face expressionless as she stared Hook in the eyes.

" Yes." He answered, pulling out the snow globe he had stolen from Gold's shop from his leather jacket and handing it over to Emma's hands, sending a shiver down his spine.

" Here, drink this and your memories will be back." She nonchalantly said, poofing up a blue potion bottle, but before she could hand the potion over, Hook's right hand went over Emma's left.

She looked at him with her green eyes and smiled, more genuinely than their last encounter. He took the bottle and placed it inside one of his pockets in his leather jacket and grabbed Emma's hand before they both started to stroll across the docks and into the streets of Storybrooke.

Since it was night time, all the stores were closed, leaving Emma and Hook to themselves.

They walked until they were at the Granny's back door, their hands still intwined with each other as they kissed.

" Meet me at my house once you drank the potion." Emma whispered into Hook's ear before poofing herself gone in grey smoke.

Killian then opened the back door quietly, slipping into the gap before closing it. He quickly walked towards his bedroom room and went right in, closing the door with a slight creak.

* * *

It was morning when he woke up. The people outside chatting about the danger of _The Dark One_ and Granny ordering people about gave it away that it was morning.

As Killian stood up, he noticed a translucent, blue potion bottle on his night side table. A scramble of memories appeared in his mind about the events from last night.

After reminiscing about last night's events, Killian grabbed the bottle and took off the cork that prevented the liquid from spilling out. He then gulped the liquid down, the liquid burning his throat a bit as memories start to shoot through his mind.

 _The wind breezed past as Killian and Emma galloped on a brown-coloured horse towards a meadow of soft pink roses. The roses glistened in the sunlight as they slowly halted to a dusty, tan-coloured dirt patch, quite close to the blossoms of soft pink roses scattered about the large, lime green meadow._

 _Once the horse had stopped, Emma climbed down, exclaiming, " That was amazing! Thank you."_

 _" I knew you'll love it." Killian answered, grabbing Emma's smooth hand and leading her to the grassy meadow of soft pink roses._

 _" Now, tell me, what do you see?" He asked, still holding onto Emma's hand._

 _" Lots of flowers." Emma answered, looking around at the pink roses scattered across the grassy meadow._

 _" Very good." Killian bent down and grabbed a rose before standing upright._

 _" Now, what don't you see?" He gave Emma the soft pink rose while talking, both having their hands on the stem of the rose._

 _Emma looked to the right and answered,_

 _" Rumpelstiltskin," She moved her head towards the other side. " He's gone."_

 _" By trusting me with your burdens, you've left no room in that head of yours." His blue eyes stared into Emma's greens eyes, just gazing at each other like love-struck puppies._

 _" Well, now that we're alone..." She looked down at the grassy meadow before looking back up to stare at Killian's soft, pink lips._

 _He raised his eyebrow up before he met Emma's gaze, his crystal, blue eyes slowly trailing towards Emma's blush pink lips._

 _Before they knew it, they were leaning in, both of their eyes closing just as their lips met._

 _It started out slow and steady, Emma's arms slowly rising to Killian's neck while Killian circled his arms around Emma._

 _The kiss was now passionate, both pouring their heart's content to each other as they kissed and kissed, not wanting for this sweet, lovely moment to end._

 _As they finally stopped, they both gazed into each other's eyes, smiling as Emma gave one, final peck to Killian before they strolled off towards the brown horse, Emma's hand clasped around Killian's and the soft pink rose he gave to her, silently promising that she'll forever keep the rose until she dies._

* * *

 _" Pass me the leaves of Camelot's finest trees and the glistening water of Arthur's lake, please." Emma asked Killian while stirring a large bowl full of ingredients for the curse._

 _Killian scanned across the wooden rows of various items until he found what he needed. He took the items and handed them to Emma who was currently mixing another bowl._

 _" What's that for?" Killian asked, pointing to the small bowl next to the large bowl that had light grey smoke flowing up to the ceiling._

 _" Oh, that's—uh nothing." The blonde answered uneasily, causing for Killian to walk towards her and stroke her tense back._

 _" Emma," He urged, still stroking Emma's back as she turned her face towards his._

 _" I—I can't say. I'm sorry." She meekly responded, turning away from him to add the ingredients Killian took from the wooden racks to the mixture._

 _As she stirred, Killian stopped stroking Emma's back and strolled over to the golden, oval mirror to see where the others were. Emma casted a spell on the mirror an hour ago to allow them to track where the others were as both of them were currently missing to them and of course, Charming **had** to send out a search party for them._

 _Luckily, none of them were even remarkably close to where they were right now. Though, Regina had been utterly close to finding out their location, but Emma_ _casted a magical barrier around the island quick enough that blocked the spell Regina had casted a second prior._

 _" How are the others going?" She asked flatly, abandoning the concoction to look at Henry trying to figure out what the piece of ripped paper was and meant._

 _" Gladly, not well. Though your spell has made Regina more suspicious that your being is on one of the islands close to Camelot." Killian answered, staring at Belle reading one of Merlin's dusty, old leather books while Snow and Charming help Regina with mixing another type of potion set to find anything._

 _" Hey Killian?" Emma called for him, grabbing his right hand. " Do you love me?" She asked, staring into Killian's blue eyes as if she could see the answer just from his eyes._

 _" Swan," He paused, looking into Emma's hazel, green eyes. " Of course I love you. I think nothing more." Killian confessed, his eyes still locked on Emma's._

 _Their eyes locked onto each other's as they slowly inched closer and closer, Killian's lips brushing against Emma's as they kissed._

 _It was slow and steady, a kiss that would forever be ingrained in their minds. Emma's arms slowly coiled around Killian's neck and kissed him as hard as she could._

 _Killian wrapped his arms around her waist, reciprocating Emma's fierce kissing with his own._

 _* **Boom** * * **Crackle** *_

 _Upon hearing these noises, they untangle themselves to look at the oval mirror beside them, now showing them a view of Regina, Henry, Snow, Charming, Robin and Arthur on the shores of Avalon._

 _" They're here. Quickly, gather up the potion while I clean the mess up." Killian demanded hastily. Emma quickly ran towards the concoction in the large wooden bowl, pouring the liquid into a medium-sized blue bottle._

 _Killian started to clean up the mess they've made while being down here. He fixed up the wooden racks, making sure the items were perfectly aligned and looked exactly how they looked when Emma and Killian arrived at this quiet, little place beneath the crashing of the waves on the Avalon shores._

 _" I'll go. Meet me at the crumbling stone tower left from here." Emma whisked away in grey smoke just as the others came tumbling down the stone stairs. Gladly for him, there was another exit behind him, but before he could run, Robin came scrambling towards him and crashed into him, pining him to the cold, stony ground._

 _" What the bloody hell is happening?! Let me go!" Killian cried out, struggling to grasp out of Robin's reach._

 _" Not until I do this." Arthur had replied, revealing a vial of sparkling, golden sand._

 _" This is enchanted sand from Avalon, designed to fix things to make them whole again." He explained, carefully watching Killian's struggling movement while Robin harshly grabbed him up, still holding onto him like a piece of meat as Arthur went closer towards Killian._

 _" When I sprinkle this onto you, you will, well, let's just say you'll despise the dark one." Arthur coyly said, Killian's face contorting from frustration to anger._

 _" Never in my life will I despise the dark one. Emma is my true lov_ e, I will never _despise her!" Killian shouted, his face directly from Arthur's._

 _" Well, I guess you're going to despise her now." He proclaimed, popping the cork off the vial and pouring some of the golden sand into the palm of his hand._

 _When he flew the sand towards Killian, Henry pushed him to the side, making him sprinkled with the sand inside._

 _" Go! Run for your life!" The boy yelled as Killian stumbled at a lying blue bottle on the floor before running towards the exit, not stopping until he arrived up the stone stairs._

 _Once he came up the stairs, he saw black smoke rising up from a collapsed tower nearby. Killian then realised that was where Emma currently stood so he ran toward the tower, running as fast as he could with his legs._

 _When he arrived at the dilapidated tower, he wasted no time and started to run up the spiralling stairs, heavily puffing as he arrived at the of the tower._

 _He saw Emma dressed in a black, sparkling, cap-sleeved gown, her hair now as white as snow spilling over her shoulders._

 _" Hey, you made it!" She came rushing towards him, Killian picking and spinning her around as she hugged him tightly._

 _" Is it..." Killian quietly asked, staring at the black smoke currently rising from the cauldron that stood in the middle of the tower._

 _" Yes." Emma responded, grabbing Killian by the lapels of his coat and kissing him roughly, Killian reciprocating her lustful kiss by kissing her with more desire and hunger than he ever had before._

 _" You will PAY for this!" A voice shouted beside them, making Emma and Killian abruptly stop kissing to reveal an angry Arthur with Regina, Robin, Snow, Charming and Henry who currently has his gaze fixated on the smoke behind them._

 _" No, you will." Emma retorted, her hands still lingering on Killian's chest whilst Killian's arms lingered on Emma's waist._

 _* **Swoosh** *_

 _Emma started to smile evilly at them as Killian's gaze was on her face, then, towards the others._

 _The black smoke started to filled the air as Emma and Hook stared at one other as the black smoke finally consumed them all._

* * *

" Woah." Killian stumbled to the ground as memories came crashing back, filling his head with tons of new information he didn't know before.

After processing everything, Killian stood up and opened his door, looking out before stepping outside incase people were lurking about. He didn't want people to know where he was going, otherwise it might cause some trouble between Regina and possibly Henry.


	2. Consuming Darkness: Part 2

**AN- Hey guys! Now, there are 3 parts to this story, mainly because I end up writing way too much. When I mean a lot, I mean it. Even though last part was super long (Sorry!) than this one, it is nearly 2,000 words and that usually marks a long chapter for me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I appreciate if you would review this! (Yes I do read them!) -M**

* * *

 **Consuming Darkness: Part 2**

Once he found Emma's house again, he knocked, hoping she would be home.

As Killian gazed at the greenery near the front porch, the door swung right open, revealing Emma, who wore the same, exact thing from their encounter last night, but with an additional trailing, chiffon-black skirt that was more at the back than at the front.

" Oh, hi. Come in." Emma then left the door open, allowing Killian to walk inside. He looked around the interior of Emma's place, reminiscing a bit about the last time he came to her place. (Not the time he broke in with Belle, Regina and Robin to find out what lies beneath the wooden locked door)

He suddenly spotted a vase.

A blue and white spotted vase with a flower. And not just any flower, a soft pink-coloured rose which looked quite similar to the one Killian had given Emma on their horse ride to a meadow filled with pink roses that were everywhere you looked.

" Killian—oh." Emma suddenly spotted his gaze towards the soft pink rose in a blue and white spotted vase on a dark, wooden table in the corner near the large tv.

" Is that the one I gave you?" Killian asked, his eyes now locked on Emma's who stood beside him.

" Yeah." She answered, her eyes trailing the floor below her.

Killian grabbed her hand which lead to Emma peeling her eyes off the floor and to stare into Killian's blue eyes.

" Hey, you know I love you, right?" Killian asked uncertainly, his eyes focused on Emma's alluring green eyes and her sweet-loving smile at him.

They stayed like that for a bit, both cherishing the moment until a knock was heard from outside.

" I know you're in there!" A loud, feminine voice was heard shouting from outside. A boy's voice could also be heard, mixing with the other voice's voice.

" I'm guessing Regina and Henry found us, and I'm pretty sure they brung Robin, Belle and the Charmings as well, considering the amount of noise coming from outside." He spoke fluently through his words, Emma noticing a hint of sadness appear in his eyes as Killian looked towards the right once he stopped speaking.

" They know you're here." Emma suddenly outburst without really thinking.

" They assume I'm here. Given my relationship with you, and the fact that I was meant to be at Granny's for a meeting with them some hours ago." Killian clarified as the white entrance door suddenly shot down, revealing an extremely angry Regina, a shocked Henry, a concerned Robin, a surprised Belle who held a glass jar containing a blossomed red rose and Snow with her eyes wide open with David stroking her back.

" I told you he was here!" Regina boomed to Snow and David who were glaring at Regina as if trying to communicate through their eyes.

" Well, are we going to do it or what?!" Snow suddenly said, alerting both Emma, Killian and surprisingly, Henry, who didn't have a clue to what Snow meant.

" What do you mean you're going to do it?" The boy asked, moving closer to his adoptive mother and grandparents with confusion plastered on his face.

While Regina tried to explain to Henry about her _plan_ without Emma and _Guyliner_ hearing, Emma and Killian took that chance to slowly back away and head into the _once_ bolted door.

As they descended down the stairs, a voice was heard echoing in the stony room.

" Pull Excalibur out of it's cage. It is your destiny, your fate. It lies within your soul and hands now...Killian Jones."

Once the voice had stopped speaking, both Emma and Killian had their eyes bulged out.

" Do you think it's true?" Emma whispered, strolling towards the silvery sword in the rough stone.

" Huh?" Killian strayed away from Emma, his eyes trailing from the sword to his true love.

" Do you think you're the rightful king, the heir to Camelot?" Emma asked again, this time with more information.

" Well, I'm about to find out." Killian responded, stepping towards Excalibur with his right hand stretching out to clasp the hilt of Excalibur.

With one pull, the sword slowly rose up, the waving edges of the sword dissipating to a sharp cut.

" You—You pulled it out!" Emma said in disbelief, still shocked that Killian had managed to pull Excalibur out of the stone without perishing to speckles of grey dust.

" I guess I did." He swung the sword around, testing it's stability and lightness if needed for battle.

A sudden ring of magic came swooping in, toppling both Emma and Killian onto the ground.

" You are not getting away with— _You_ have it!" Regina gaped her mouth wide open. The others did as well in disbelief that a man with a hook could possibly be the one that was destined to pull the mightiest of swords out from it's hard shell of a cage.

Killian simply smiled as he stood up, Emma coming behind him once she stood up with a grin as well.

" Let's end this, shall we?" Killian suddenly spoke, a cloud of grey smoke surrounding them two, whisking them away to a place further away from the others.

" Great. Now they're gone... _again_!" Regina said in annoyance, clearly angry at Emma and Hook's disappearance _yet again_.

* * *

The wind breezed through the forest, orange leaves flowing down from pine trees, scattering about.

The sun was above them, sending sunlight onto them as they appeared in the forest.

" Do you have the dagger?" He asked, still clasping Excalibur as someone were about to steal it.

" Of course I do, I'm not an idiot." Emma replied, grabbing _The Dark one's_ dagger from under her leather jacket.

" Let me handle it." A deep voice had said, sending Emma and Killian to look at where the voice was.

" Merlin." Emma quickly pointed out, her face in shock that a powerful wizard would visit them in this period of time, especially since she and Killian had things to get on with.

" Hello. Will you give me Excalibur and your dagger please?" Merlin asked, though Emma was hesitant to give away the only thing that could control her, unlike Killian, who gave the mighty sword to Merlin right away.

" Don't worry, I'm only forging it together. Besides, prophesies withhold me from doing anymore than forging these two together." Merlin explained, Emma's face morphing from anger to a neutral sort of face.

" You might want to step back." He cautioned them, Emma and Killian stepping away from the man as he started to cast the spell.

Swirls of light and dark magic circled 'round the two objects, slowly connecting to each other as the magic started to gradually fade away with each passing minute.

Once the mixture of magic faded away, in Merlin's hands held a forged Excalibur, a completed one.

" Here you go." Merlin then gave the sword to Killian before disappearing in a cloud of greyish-white smoke.

Afterwards, Killian started to swing the sword around as if he was fighting someone.

" Killian," Emma said to him, stopping Killian from sword-fighting air. " I need you to go on your ship to collect something."

" What is it?" He asked, Excalibur loosely hanging in his free hand while intertwining it to Emma's right hand.

" Can you find a piece of brown string and something that touched Rumple when he was the dark one?" Emma replied as she traced Excalibur's silvery edges while still holding Killian's hand. As she traced around the sword, she went over of an etching of a name that definitely wasn't there when Killian first pulled it out.

Without thinking, she grabbed Excalibur, alarming Killian to try to snatch it away, but to no avail.

Emma then turned it over, revealing a familiar name etched onto the sword.

" Killian, this is your name." She pointed out with her finger, tracing it with her finger as Killian stared at his name on the sword, his face astonished.

" What does this mean?" Killian asked to no one in particular.

" It seems like Merlin put it there, like he knew you would pull it out." She answered, still tracing over her boyfriend's name on the most powerful of swords in all the realms.

" Well, he is the one to have prophesied this _and_ other things." Killian explained like he had told her this a thousand times.

" So, can you collect it?" Emma asked again, her hands now trailing Killian's arms.

" Sure. We'll meet here at sundown." He replied, loosening his grip on Emma's waist to grab Excalibur from her hands.

" Okay, see you then." Emma then poofed away in grey smoke.

As Killian trekked through the forest, he kept thinking of the possibilities of why he was destined to pull the sword. Suddenly, he realised that he never actually got told where he was born, only that he was born somewhere in the Enchanted Forest near a shipyard.

Once he arrived at the docks, Killian strolled forward, looking at the lapping waves as he walk to where his ship now lays.

When he approached _The Jolly Roger_ , he spotted a figure on the ship. Killan then decided to climb aboard to see who it was. _Nobody goes on my ship with my consent!_

Just as Killian climbed onto his ship, he found out that Rumple was the mysterious figure by the way he walked, limping as he does.

" Hey!" He yelled, alarming Rumple to fully face Killian face-to-face.

" Hook, what a pleasant surprise." Rumple sarcastically greeted, his hand pulling out a sword from his belt.

" Oh, are we fighting?" Killian asked, raising his eyebrow up at him.

" Oh, we shall until one of us falls to the deck... Unarmed. If not unarmed, then the other opponent wins. Deal?"

" Deal." He answered confidently, pulling out Excalibur from his belt, making Rumple gape his month and bulge his eyes.

" You pulled it out?! And it's completed!" Rumple exclaimed, astonished that his former enemy had pulled the sword out of it's hard cage.

" Why, yes I did. Shall we begin?"


	3. Consuming Darkness: Part 3

**AN- Hey guys! This is the final instalment of Consuming Darkness! Thank you to the people who followed and favourited this! Also, I wanted to get this out before 5x08/5x09 aired as I didn't want the Captainswan scenes to affect my writing of this. (It probably wouldn't have, but I don't care) Anyways, I hope you enjoy this and I'll hopefully see you next time whether it will be for a Ouat fanfic or a Pll fanfic. (Yes I do watch Pll, if you're wondering) -M**

* * *

 **Consuming Darkness: Part 3**

As swords clashed and clanged about, a figure stood against a brick wall, gazing at the stupidity of Merida using Rumple as a distraction to gather what _The Dark One_ would want in making an excellent deal _. It won't work, the pirate has already won._

" Well, that was a shame. You boasting about how you're going to win even though I have the most powerful of weapons in my finger tips." Killian stood above Rumple, pointing Excalibur at the crumpled man's throat.

" Fine. You win." He threw his hands in surrender as a curly, red-head stumbled out of Killian's sleeping quarters.

" Hey, you! What you doing in my sleeping quarters?! This is my _bloody_ ship!" Killian shouted at Merida, who slipped on a loose plank of wood. A little, white sack fell from Merida's hands and it's contents spilled, scattering about on the wooden planks of _The Jolly Roger._

" Please don't hurt me! I need to find my brothers and _The Dark One_ knows where they are. Please, I beg yah, don't kill me!" Merida pleaded hopelessly as Killian wasn't aiming to kill the curly, red-haired woman, but to help her stand.

" Merida?" Killian said, grabbing Merida's hand to pull her off of the wooden plank floor.

" Hey, you're the boyfriend of hers." She pointed out, crouching down to grab the spilled contents Merida had stolen before climbing up to discover the Captain of this very ship nearly finish off the crumpled man underneath him.

" Yes, I am. Now tell me, why are you on my ship?" Killian asked, plucking the white sack away from Merida's hands.

" In there," She paused. " Is stuff Emma would want. I wanted to make a deal with her, in exchange for my brother's location."

Killian plastered a confused expression on his face, his mouth opening to ask,

" What's in this bag?"

" You can look in there yourself." With that, Merida hurriedly ran off the ship, her curly, red ringlets bouncing up and down as she ran across the docks and into the street where Granny's laid.

When he opened the white sack, inside laid a brown piece of string, a grey scarf and a vial with glittery, golden sand.

Just as Killian closed the white bag, a scramble of someone running away alerted him, his body turning around just as a limping Rumple staggeringly stepped off _The Jolly Roger_ and onto the cold, stony floor. _I guess the spell wore off._

Once Rumple was out of Killian's eye sight, he jumped off of his ship and ventured off towards the forest behind the docks.

As he strolled across the concrete, he spotted a tall, lady-like figure in a dark pink gown creep into an alleyway near Gold's Pawn Shop.

Killian stood still and contemplated whether or not to follow the mysterious figure or to meet Emma before sundo—

* _Clang_ * * _Crash_ *

 _What the?!_

Killian moved slowly towards the noise that suspiciously came from the direction where the tall, lady-like figure went. He crept carefully towards the dark alleyway, making sure his feet weren't causing any noise that could arise the mysterious figure's suspicion.

When he peeked his head over the corner of the stony, brick wall, Killian saw a man with silvery armour creep out of the shadows, revealing a very familiar face walk towards the lady Killian was following.

 _Is that..._

" Did you see who has Excalibur?" The man in silver amour asked the lady in a British kind of accent.

" Yes, that pirate boyfriend of her's has it. The one with the hook." The lady answered back, grabbing Arthur's hands.

" Well, how are we going to get Excalibur back?" Arthur's arms were now circled 'round Guinevere's waist with her arms around his neck.

" I don't know right now, but we will find a way. We always do." Guinevere replied, her face inching closer to Arthur's.

As their lips collided hungrily, Killian saw a small, brown, rectangular box fall from inside Arthur's scabbard. _That's probably where he kept Excalibur._

* _Clang_ *

 _Shit!_

Straight after his clumsy fall onto a piece of stray metal, Killian ran, his legs running like the wind as Arthur shouted and yelled out to him repeatedly, " I WILL GET YOU! YOU WILL REGRET THIS!"

* * *

The sun glowed an orange, yellow tint near the horizon as Emma approached the spot where she would meet Killian.

As Emma waited and waited, the sky turned a more darker shade of blue as the fiery sun melted below and the white, glimmering moon peering over as nightfall started.

" Where is he?" Emma muttered to herself, pacing back and forth on the crunching, orange and yellow leaves below her.

" Right. Here." Killian puffed out, his legs bent from exhaustion as he drops the white sack onto the leafy ground.

" Are you okay?" She placed her hand onto Killian's arm, rubbing him until he stopped heavily breathing.

" I'm fine. Although, I don't think Arthur is happy with me. Though, he never really was." Killian bent down to grab the sack he unintentionally dropped onto the ground.

" What's in there?" Emma asked, her eyes glued onto the white sack as her lover opened it, revealing a grey scarf, a brown piece of string and a vial of golden sand.

" I assume these are what you want?" The _former_ pirate asked uncertainly, his electric, blue eyes flickering from Emma's to the white sack he was currently holding.

" Yes, thank you." Emma smiled softly at him. " Now, we need to go to the Well." She stated, grabbing the sack from Killian's hand.

" Do you mean th—" Before Killian could finish speaking, a loud crackle and puffs of white smoke appeared around them, surrounding Emma and Killian so they couldn't escape.

" What the?" Emma said in confusion, a man dressed in black clothing approaching them with a wooden staff as the smoke intensified which made looking for an escape route more harder than before.

" Hello." The man in black spoke loudly, Emma clinging on Killian's arm as the man came closer.

" Now, do you know why I'm here?" He circled around them both, slowly coming more closer towards them.

Killian went to open his mouth, but the man spoke before he could say anything.

" I am here because one of you have to pay the price that comes along with what you are about to do. I assume you know what the price is, right?" He spoke slowly like a snake creeping up on it's prey, just waiting for the right moment to attack.

" What do you mean a price?" Killian spoke for the first time since the man appeared. Emma's eyes trailed onto the ground that now consisted of grass instead of orange leaves scattered around.

" A price for removing the darkness out, of course. You see, to prevent the darkness from consuming another host, it must be tethered to someone. And if that someone is sent to the underworld," The man paused deliberately, sensing the woman feeling uneasy by her arms clinging more tightly around her love.

" It will eliminate the darkness out of this world, and the Enchanted Forest, forever. But, the person who takes the darkness with them to the underworld must never be able to return back." The man stepped towards a boat parked in a river beside them, hopping inside and standing, staring at the two lovers like a hawk looking for it's prey.

Killian faced Emma, who had tears falling down her pale complexion.

" Hey, it's alright Swan." He tried to sooth Emma, but she kept on crying.

" Killian, I don't want to lose you. I rather battle the darkness inside of me than to never see you again." Her tears trickled down, creating pools of water as Killian moved his fingers to clean the excess that fell.

" Swan," Her glossy, emerald green eyes stared into Killian's as he spoke. " I will pay the price. You have family and a son to care for, while I have nothing, except for you, of course and I rather see you be happy than for you to struggle with what's inside of you." Killian stroked Emma's wet cheek before she started to untangle herself from him.

She then plunged her hand into her chest, grabbing her heart that now has black swirling around instead of being a pure, red heart that hasn't been tainted.

" Give me Excalibur." Killian grabbed the sword from his belt and handed it over to Emma, who plucked the grey scarf and the piece of brown string from the sack that stood on the grassy ground.

Emma tied the brown string on top of the hilt of the sword before placing the grey scarf back onto the ground. _I guess I don't need that anymore._

She placed Excalibur on top of her heart as her hands started to pool out light and dark magic. The swirling magic of light and dark magic combined started to pull out the black tendrils from Emma's heart until the heart _now_ stood a solid red.

The darkness swirled around Excalibur like it was magnetised to it. Emma kept the sword steady, grabbing Killian's hand for reassurance and comfort as the swirling black tendrils drifted off Excalibur and onto the boat with the mysterious man in black clothing with a wooden staff.

Killian took one step forward towards the boat and was about to step on, but Emma slammed him aggressively towards her lips which crashed together like lightning in a thunder storm.

It was passionate and aggressive as both were pouring out all of their desire and hunger as once Killian stepped onto the boat, they would be separated, forever.

Killian kept on tangling his hand into Emma's cascading blonde waves that now stood there instead of the tight, white bun Emma had worn as _The Dark One._

When they finally stopped kissing, Emma had trickles of stray tears fall down her face as they stared into each other's eyes, their foreheads touching as well.

" Do you have to go?" Emma asked, tears still flowing down her smooth, pale face.

" Swan, don't worry, I'll be fine." With that, he untangled himself from their embrace and stepped onto the boat, his gaze looking at Emma as the boat slowly drifted of into the smoke.

Emma stood there looking at where Killian was, tears flowing down her face as she collapsed onto the grassy ground, crying her heart out as the smoke subsided to no more.

When she looked up, a silhouette of a wooden boat stood of in the distance, a reminder that her true love was gone. The dark cerulean, blue water rippled like something was about to pop out.

Suddenly, a glass bottle with a scroll appeared in the water, swimming closer towards Emma who looked confused at the glass bottle appearing out of nowhere.

Once the glass bottle swam to Emma's reach, she picked it up and unscrewed the cork to reveal a scroll with a red ribbon attached to it.

When she opened it, the black ink of the handwriting on it stood boldly against the browned piece of parchment paper.

' _Dear Emma,_

 _If you are reading this, I assume Killian is with us now. Please don't worry about him as there is a way for him to return to you and not release the darkness back into the world. You would have to come to the underworld, though if you fail to retrieve him before a month's time, you will also not be able to return back to your world. If you want to try to rescue your love back, it will require strength, determination and courage as many obstacles will try to block your path. If you choose not to rescue him, put the letter back into the bottle and throw it into the water. The water will suck it up and it will seem like it was never there. I do hope you have enough strength to rescue him though as Hades seems to be annoyed by him like he wishes Killian never came._

 _With respect,_

 _Hercules and Megara'_

Once Emma finished reading the letter, her face lit up like a light bulb and a huge grin was plastered on her face as she wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks and hurriedly ran off to find her family and to rescue Killian from the gloomy, dark underworld.


End file.
